


Many years on -or- Part 3 of Reconciliation and Return

by godsdaisiechain (preux)



Series: Reconciliation and Return [3]
Category: Ancient Egyptian Religion, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Torchwood
Genre: M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 13,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7850896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preux/pseuds/godsdaisiechain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Harkness returns to Torchwood on a mission for the Time Agency because John ran afoul of The Family on a routine assignment. New adventures.... and much shagging.... ensue.</p>
<p>This is an AU where Ianto lives, Miracle Day never happens, and Jack is the Face of Boe (and held in awe by all the pagan gods).  </p>
<p>This part of the story shows how Ianto cleans up the aftermath of preventing Miracle Day (which he did in our last installment) and John and Ianto try to convince Jack to shack up with them so there are enough people to play naked hide and seek.</p>
<p>NEW BONUS CHAPTERS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ten years later...

**Author's Note:**

> I read a scholarly paper about how Jack Harkness follows the path of the Welsh gods and... well... things happened.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets up enough nerve to say hello to Ianto after a 10-year absence. Ianto and John have moved on and Jack isn't quite sure where he stands. Only Myfanwy greets Jack as expected.
> 
> Jack POV.

Jack hovered about in the background of Torchwood One while Ianto supervised the update of a display of pterodactyl fossils and a couple of somewhat too efficient-looking docents ushered the public out.  Myfanwy circled above in her specially constructed dome.  The old Torchwood One had been converted to a museum of sorts—parts were even open to the public—and Ianto was its head curator.  Jack had been coming to the exhibits for days, trying to work up courage enough to speak to his former lover.  He’d finally shown his Torchwood badge to another efficient-looking young person, who let him into the back rooms to wait for the Director. 

A familiar smell tickled his nose. Coffee.  His own special industrial strength brew, the one Ianto had invented just for him. “Jack,” Ianto had snuck up behind him, looking exactly the same as the last time they’d met, but, much, much happier.   Jack had seen Ianto on the phone, saying ‘I love you,’ to someone. That thought had held Jack back.  Did he want to break that other person’s heart? It never occurred to him to think that Ianto would not run straight into his arms, abandoning everything else. 

“Ianto,” Jack had longed for this moment, but felt strangely disappointed in the reunion.  They were both smiling so hard Jack could almost feel the ache in Ianto’s face as well as his own, but there was no throwing of arms around him or tearing at his clothes or kissing.

There was coffee, though.  Beautiful, delicious coffee. The coffee Jack had missed almost every waking moment, it seemed, now that he smelled it again.  He drained the mug, throwing back his head, closing his eyes and groaning in a way Ianto recognized from some of their most intimate moments.

Jack tilted his head down and met Ianto’s eyes. “Gods, I have missed that.  And you.”

“You could have had some days ago if you’d asked. I’ve seen you hovering around,” Ianto said, eyes twinkling with affection even as he kept the rest of his face still.   He took away the empty mug and handed Jack another cup, which he sipped more slowly, savoring the feeling of the warm liquid over his tongue. “How are you doing?”

Jack let the expression in his eyes deepen into love, hoping that it would be reflected in Ianto’s lovely face. Just then, John Hart popped out from behind a display of protoceratops eggs, swept Ianto up into a huge hug and kissed him, then hugged and kissed him again, lifting him from the floor and setting him back down.  “I love you.  I’ve missed you.  I made reservations…”  Then he saw Jack and his arms dropped to his sides.  “Jack? Is that you?”

“We were just saying hello,” Ianto said, keeping a firm hold on John’s waist, while Jack gave in to temptation and drained the second mug of coffee.  “He was about to tell me…”

“I came back for you,” Jack said, setting the empty coffee mug on a ledge.  “Both of you.” Ianto squeezed John’s waist and together they closed Jack in an embrace.  They felt his body almost shudder with love and longing, so they held him tighter until Jack pulled away.

“You’re more than welcome to stay with us,” John said, and Jack caught sight of their matching rings and the way they clutched each other’s hands.  Ianto was called away just then by another efficient-looking person, a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat, who gave Jack an appreciative look and a wink over her shoulder as she left. Ianto took the two coffee mugs, leaving John and Jack alone together.

“Did you need to see me alone?” John asked while Jack examined his ring. 

“I didn't want to have to explain myself to the Director.  Or Ianto. This is a lovely piece of jewelry. Was it made specially?”

“Is that why you’ve been hovering about for the last week not talking to him?” John asked, refusing to be distracted by Jack’s touch or his comments about the ring.

“He told you?” John nodded.  “I was afraid you’d punch me for hurting his feelings.”  John nodded.  “I was an ass.  I took him for granted.”  John nodded.   “I….went back and changed something with him.”  John nodded.

“He knows,” said John, touching Jack’s cheek, as if he couldn’t help himself.  Jack’s eyes fluttered shut.  “He’s known for a long while.  Ever since he mentioned it and you didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“That damn diary,” said Jack.

“He has your old wristband as well. I love you,” John said.  “Genuinely love you, Jack, but if you ever do anything like that to him again….”

“No, John, please don’t. I forgive you, Jack,” Ianto said, having snuck up again.  He planted a kiss on John’s cheek, then on Jack’s. “Are you back to work?  Torchwood Three is still there if you want it. Not as exciting now with the rift closed, but we’re really only doing curatorial work here at Torchwwod One at the moment, and it might be a bit of a chance for…” Ianto took a breath. “Erm…. John’s just back and I’d prefer… Can we delay serious talking until tomorrow?  Maybe have a day catching up?”

“Of course,” said Jack, hoping he’d be able to stay long enough to do what had to be done.  “But what about the Director?” John laughed and Ianto winked.  “You’re the Director?  No one told me.”

“Everyone else was dead or gone, except Gwen, and she won’t do it,” Ianto explained.  “She said it interferes with the baby.”  None of them mentioned that the baby was now ten years old and Gwen had been back to work in Cardiff for years.

They walked toward the door.  Then Myfanwy scented Jack and went nearly berserk trying to get out of the pen to greet him.

“Always the queue for your affections,” said Ianto. 

He had the handlers let Jack into the pen and was about to follow when John held him back for another quick snog.  Jack felt a twinge of jealousy when he heard Ianto whisper to John. “I’ve missed you so much.” And John murmuring not to snog him again or he wouldn't be able to contain himself.


	2. The meaning of eye candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Jack reappears, Ianto thinks of the past ten years and how much John Hart had come to mean to him. Jack asks what happened between them, and Ianto explains how they became boyfriends.
> 
> Some hints at the real reason why Jack actually went back to Torchwood.
> 
> Ianto POV.

Surprisingly, Jack did not immediately take charge, but instead asked to hear about John and Ianto.  “Tell me the whole story. I thought it would peter out quickly between the two of you.  Just blowing off some steam.” John and Ianto laughed.

“So did I,” said Ianto.  “Not that I thought of you as just a bit of shag,” he added hurriedly, turning to John and gripping his arm.  John kissed the side of his head.  “But I thought you’d lose interest after a bit.”

John shook his head and took Ianto’s hand and kissed him again.  “Not possible, oddly enough.  I remain quite interested. More so each day, in fact.”

“I thought you were supposed to have a short attention span,” Jack said.

“As did I,” said John.

“So tell me,” Jack said again.  “What have you two been doing?”

They took it in turns to tell their story, and by an unspoken agreement, left out the bits that might have hurt Jack’s feelings. 

*-*-*-*

Despite what was supposed to be his short attention span, John Hart had remained a steady, faithful presence, asking Ianto along on his Time Agency assignments and in the intervals helping at Torchwood, which was only a small job with the rift closed until they began to find other rifts and had to set up measures to manage them. It had taken a few months to round up the last blowfish and the final Weevils and a bit longer to restore them to where they belonged. Rhys had willingly (and Gwen had unwillingly) helped from time to time.  Afterward, Ianto spent most of his days between more exciting assignments deciding which of the myriad alien artifacts could be restored to their origins, saved, or destroyed.  John was amazingly helpful, with a knowledge of rift objects that rivalled Jack’s.

They had lived together, first in Ianto’s old flat and later in a cottage they bought and fixed up together, and developed a group of friends in Cardiff, which included Gwen and Rhys and, very unexpectedly, Ianto’s brother-in-law and his mates, who instantly welcomed John as a fellow spirit.  Ianto’s sister had slapped him senseless the first time she saw him—no one could blame her because they were both at Ianto’s grave at the time leaving flowers (Ianto’s with a card saying they were from Jack to keep up appearances)—but she came round after John had a talk with her.  

Ianto and John didn’t label what they were doing until others did it for them.  It would have seemed cheap and wrong to call it a bit of a shag, especially after they started calling the sex lovemaking, but much too disloyal to Jack for it to be called anything else, at least in those first months when they expected him back any day.  

Ianto did note, though, that, a little over a year after Jack left, Rhys started referring to John as Ianto’s “boyfriend.”  When Ianto mentioned this at the flat, John’s eyes had lit up.  “Boyfriend, is it? Didn’t you object?” John asked. “Say that we’ve never spoken about this ‘boyfriend’ terminology?”

“No,” said Ianto, his stomach clenching.  “I didn’t say anything really. I didn’t know what to say.”

“So you didn’t tell him I was just a bit of a shag you were marking time with?” John teased.  “While we were queuing up?”

“No,” said Ianto, not understanding the teasing.  He looked up from the sandwiches he was making, feeling inexplicably near to tears.  “Of course not. Why would I say something like that?  After all you've done for me?”

John, seeing Ianto's expression, had crossed the kitchen and hugged him tightly, cupping the back of his head in a hand, and kissing him. “Good," he said.  "That’s good.”

Ianto struggled to make himself clear. “I was just warning you…” He saw John’s face cloud, dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to hint or pressure you… I know Jack asked you to look after me.”  He caught sight of John's dismay and tried to pull away. "I'm sorry." 

But John kept a firm hold on Ianto’s waist, and moved his hand to the side of Ianto's face, nudging his chin and when Ianto looked up, said “Those eyes will kill me yet. Ianto, lad, I’m utterly delighted to be thought your boyfriend.”  Ianto struggled to speak, so John hugged and kissed him again. "Utterly delighted," he said.  That evening, John convinced the TARDIS to take them to Paris for a special meal and afterward made long, slow satisfying love to Ianto, during which he said "I love you" at several crucial moments.

In all, Ianto thought it was rather better as an outcome than John saying “So what?” the way Jack had less than two years before under similar circumstances. 

The next morning while they were cooking breakfast, John said, “I do love you. And that's nothing to do with anyone else. Just so you know how I feel about you."  It was the first time he’d said so while they were not making love, and Ianto burst into tears and said he loved John, too, which was the very first time he’d said so at all. 

“I knew, sweet light of my heart,” John said, wiping his tears.  “I’d suspected, at least. Or hoped, if I'm that honest about it.  I’m sorry I teased you yesterday.”

“I’m sorry I never said,” Ianto started, but John put an arm around him and kissed him.

“None of that from you,” John said, kissing him again. “I’ve been in no great rush to fuss or pressure you, either.”

“It’s not the pressure,” Ianto said.  “It’s simply never gone well…  It’s always ruined everything.”

John’s expression grew thoughtful in a way Ianto hadn’t seen since their first kiss.  “Ah. Then you were hinting, just a bit?”

Ianto flushed and nodded, embarrassed, pulling away, to move the eggs and rashers before they burned. “He did say so. Rhys.  I didn't know if he’d said anything to you.  I didn’t know what to do, how you really felt.”

John brushed the side of Ianto’s head with a palm. “He'd teased me more than once. I told him that we’d not spoken about it.” And Ianto heard what John was not saying: that he thought Ianto might have been waiting for Jack. “I didn’t want to pressure you, as I said. You’d been through more than enough.” John paused, letting his hand rest on the back of Ianto's neck, while Ianto gathered this thoughts.

“I’m glad he said something to me, then,” Ianto said, turning to meet John's eye. “I’m glad you said something to me,” said John. “Would you consider being my boyfriend then?”

Ianto flushed.  “Yes,” he said and John kissed him yet again.  “Would you?  I've found a cottage. It needs a bit of work." 

And John's eyes had brimmed with tears, but he laughed and said, “It will take more than a declaration of love and an offer of a cottage to drive me away from those eyes.”  They lost interest in the breakfast that was already beginning to congeal on the top of the cooker.

On the anniversary of that day, John surprised Ianto with another special meal and flowers, although Ianto had prepared something extraordinary for their lovemaking himself.

So, a few years later, when John started disappearing without a word, the first time for half a day and later for a day or two, coming back battered and bruised, Ianto soothed and comforted but didn’t question him, even the one time he had to go and fish John out of a terrible trouble that left them both raw and reeling for months afterward and had never fully healed. And after that day, when he was feeling especially tender, John called Ianto “heart candy,” which happened at dinner with Gwen and Rhys one evening, after which Gwen cried and Rhys pretended not to. 

 

 


	3. Meanwhile- or Graphic Novels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gods and goddesses must pull their attention away from film festivals and comic books to determine why Jack has returned to Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of the last story, Jack began a love affair with Nut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky.

Athena and Freyja sat together, reading _The Watchmen_ for their goddesses book (or scroll, depending on who was asked) group. 

Odin and Zeus approached, arguing about a list of films.  “I’m rather weary of these serious films,” Odin was saying.  “Why not try a Cary Grant festival?”

“Who is this Cary Grant?” Zeus wanted to know.  “Is he as compelling as your Jean Reno?”

“He’s simply dreamy,” Ganymede said. 

Odin chuckled fondly. “You’ve been getting more stealthy, young one.”  Ganymede flushed and said Nut had been teaching him how to move quietly.

“What do you mean by dreamy?” Zeus asked.

“Handsome,” said Ganymede.  “But he’s also a comic genius.  _Arsenic and Old Lace…_ so funny.”

“Good choice,” said Odin.  Bran and Marduk hurried up. 

“Is that the film festival list?  Cary Grant? What’s that?”  Bran asked.

“Not what, who. You must see _The Philadelphia Story,”_ said Marduk.  Thor joined them.

“Is that the one with the dinosaur in it? Shiva, what do you think?”

“ _Bringing Up Baby_?”

Zeus sidled up to Athena and Freyja while the others bickered about _North by Northwest_.  “What are you reading?  Are those pictures?”

“It’s a graphic novel.  Ianto thought we might enjoy it.”

“How delightful.  Is this the only one?”

“Oh, no,” said Freyja.  “There are dozens of books.  Serious books as well as stories.”

Zeus squeezed in between Freyja and Athena.  “Budge over.  Who is this blue character?”

Nut appeared then.  Ganymede squeaked and jumped away, and the others all teased him for being startled.

“The Enduring One has gone back to Earth,” Nut said.  Athena and Freyja left their book with Zeus and went to the scrying pool, most of the others in their wake.

Nut sat beside Zeus and Odin sat on the other side.  “I like the Avengers,” Odin remarked.  “Although Thor can’t stand it.”

“Intruiging,” Nut said.  “But I see that great harm has come to this John.  Very great harm. The Enduring One has gone to him.”

“Did it draw him back?” Odin asked.  “From his quest to rediscover his mortality?”

“It did,” Nut said.

“That seems like a powerful love.” 

“It is,” Nut said.

 

 


	4. A ring or two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John Hart asks Ianto to be his own, then considers how their relationship might change if Jack comes back.
> 
> John POV

Their last separation had been the longest. Three weeks. John had given Ianto a ring before he left.

“I’ve never done this before,” John said, opening a box with a simple ring in dark grey platinum carrying a pattern of tiny diamonds.

“Yes,” Ianto said.

“Eye Candy,” John said, which was a certain sign of annoyance (or sometimes an exceptionally satisfying orgasm, although clearly not in this case). “You don’t know what I’m going to ask you. Or even if I am…”

Ianto kissed John’s cheek. “It’s a ring. Are you considering asking someone to marry you?”

“Yes,” said John, flushing pinkly, which made Ianto want to crawl into his lap and cover him in kisses.

“Is it someone other than me? Someone you’ve been seeing during these mysterious absences? Are you asking for my advice, as your close friend, about this crucial decision?”

“No,” said John, sheepishly. “It’s you. I love you, and I want you to be mine.”

“And are you asking me to think about maybe considering the possibility to gauge my interest before you commit yourself fully to the request?” Ianto continued.

John rolled his eyes for first time in several years. “Definitively, no,” John said. “I will be crushed to the very dust if you refuse me.”

“Then, as I said, yes,” Ianto said. “Yes. Thousands of times, yes.” They kissed for quite a long time and Ianto did crawl into John’s lap.

“You make everything too easy for me,” said John, trying to sound annoyed, although his voice quivered with emotion and tears were streaming down his face.

“Not always,” said Ianto, wiping John’s tears and kissing him again. “Might we get these clothes off you so I can demonstrate my feelings more thoroughly? In the case I was not fully clear about my level of enthusiasm for your request?”

“Would we take off yours as well?” John wanted to know. “I’d enjoy that.”

“If you like,” said Ianto, pulling a small velvet box out of his own pocket before John found it. “The jeweler called a few weeks ago to confirm your order,” he explained. “So I had him make one in your size as well. I didn’t open it to see what it looked like. To keep your surprise.”

John’s brow wrinkled. “Did you let me stew nervously for weeks for no good reason?” He admired the ring on Ianto’s finger. Then he realized why Ianto had been cooking his favorite meals and showing him so much extra affection, and his eyes twinkled. “Is this why you’ve been so much more eager?”

Ianto laughed. “I’m always eager, but I’d like you to call me Eye Candy again this evening and not because you’re annoyed with me.”

"You'll have some work cut out for you after last night," John said.

"I wouldn't consider it work," said Ianto.

 

+*+*+

The day Jack came back, after an absence of ten years, Ianto’s heart misgave him, John could see. Clearly, something was very wrong. Jack’s response to their hug was clue enough that he loved and missed them. Likely, he’d been expecting a different sort of welcome. Deep kissing and begging for sex, probably. John understood the impulse. He still felt it and he could tell Ianto did as well.


	5. Breathing space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack needs a little breathing room after wandering the stars. When Ianto and John leave him to himself, he considers a mission from the Time Agency.
> 
> Jack POV

They considered putting off their plans, but Jack, uncharacteristically, didn’t want to get in the way. 

“I need a little breathing space…” he started when John pressed the point.   Ianto, as usual, backed down immediately, but John maintained eye contact and Jack kept talking.  “It’s been a lot to take in, these past years.  I was hoping you’d let me just be for a while.”

Ianto hugged Jack and kissed his cheek.  “Whatever you need.  I’ve made you more coffee if you want it.”  Jack did.  He did not say he wanted anything else, which was also not like him, but they left him alone as he’d asked.

It seemed strange to be alone in Ianto’s flat and know that Ianto wasn’t dead, that he’d be back later that same evening.  It was a different flat, but the same things scattered about, mixed in with John’s belongings.

Jack was not sure what exactly had brought him back at this particular moment.  John and Ianto seemed happy, and the event the Time Agency wanted investigated had taken place nearly two years earlier, just before John and Ianto had begun working at the new Torchwood One.

Something strange had happened, it was true.  The Family had suddenly ceased its crime, ceased its killing, ceased its explorations.  The Time Agency contacted Jack because of his prior experience with them, and with John. His last report had been vague and he’d asked for a leave of absence.

Jack had always been the one who could keep John in order, so he was the logical choice to investigate.

 


	6. Tantric return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Ianto have a special meal together and then practice some tantric sex moves. They discuss Jack's return and the impact it may have on their relationship. Ianto mentions Drupadi's suggestion that John and Ianto extend their circle of love to Jack.
> 
> More harbingers of something not-so-nice that happened to John.
> 
> Ianto POV.

Once they had Jack settled into their guest room with a good book and an enormous flask of his special industrial strength brew, John and Ianto drove out to the hilltop where Danris, their TARDIS, liked to sleep.  She was there, among the trees, and brought them to Paris and their bed—the same dinner and the same bed they’d found once a year on the same day each of the past nine years since they had agreed to be boyfriends.

They were too excited to see each other after the separation to eat much, but Ianto had a book of tantric sex moves.  John smiled.  “This looks lovely, but I’d like…” he blushed and looked at his ring.  “Remember that night? I’d like to try that again.”

Ianto marveled that anyone with as varied and athletic a sexual past as John could ever color over something he’d done, and said so. “We’re only halfway through,” he went on and John looked up in surprise.  “I bought this after,” he paused because they never mentioned the terrible trouble directly if they could help it.“I wanted to know if you’d like to continue.  Try something new.”

“Oh, yes,” said John, when Ianto explained what he would like. “Good choice.”

Afterward, they lay together, watching the stars.  “Are you going to tell me what you’ve been doing?” Ianto wanted to know.  “I don’t mean to fuss you, but I have been looking into your eyes this last hour and they seem to be the eyes of a man who wants to say something and doesn’t quite know how.” And John curled up on Ianto’s shoulder and wept as though his heart was breaking, because it was.  Ianto wrapped John in his arms and legs and made wordless noises of comfort until he stilled.

“I’m so sorry,” John gasped finally.  “I’ve been lying to you this whole time.”

“I know,” said Ianto.  “I’d wondered why you waited for me to mention the boyfriend comments. I know you’ve only been protecting me.  Believe me when I say I am grateful, but it’s time to confess, I think.”

“That damn book group,” John said. “What did they tell you?”

“Nothing in so many words,” said Ianto.  “They waited until you were away for more than a few days.”

John paused.  “What did they tell you?” 

“Nothing. They just left something lying around. I went to see him while you were away,” Ianto said. 

“I know,” said John.  “I’m the one who picked you up and saw you home safely when you collapsed.  He was in such a state afterwards, I had to bring him to be cared for.  I am sorry I was away for so long, but I had to see him all right.”

“It’s all right,” said Ianto.  “I couldn’t bear it if he wasn’t looked after properly, if he was alone and afraid.  You know that. I missed you, of course, but I needed some time to think.”

“And what did you think?”

“I’m not sure yet,” said Ianto.  He told John about Drupadi’s suggestion that they all live together as lovers whenever Jack was free. “But I don’t want anyone to feel second best.”

“I don’t mind,” John said.  “I love you both too much to mind anything like that.”

“I didn’t mean you,” Ianto said, kissing the top of John’s head.

“You’re not second best to me,” John said.

“I know, and I wouldn’t mind that much, either,” said Ianto, ignoring the involuntary noise of disagreement John made in the back of his throat.  “But he looked a bit hurt today. Jack.” 

“I’ve been looking into your eyes, too, and I see a man I dearly love, Ianto Jones.  Jack’s a bit too charismatic to feel second best for long.”

Ianto chuckled.  “You do have a way of making me feel better.  No wonder he picked you to help him.”

John sat up and cupped Ianto’s cheek.  “He picked me because we were together before he became …. ”

“I know,” Ianto said.  “But let's not talk about it while Jack is here.  He doesn't know yet.”


	7. The Face of Boe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Face of Boe is near death and says his final good-bye to Ianto. John continues to be the good wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This explains the semi-cryptic conversation in the previous chapter and where John had been for the past three weeks.

Death was finally near and the one he waited for had come.  Just the same.  Young and perfect.  Beautiful.  “Ianto,” said the Face of Boe.  “Ianto.”

The Face of Boe felt the young man’s fear and sorrow and pity. That was a surprise. “Jack?”  Ianto said, recognizing him immediately—another surprise—a hand going to the distended cheek. The Face of Boe closed his eyes, drawn into the sensual pleasure of that long-forgotten yet deeply-beloved touch. “My goodness. What’s happened to you?”

“Dying,” the Face of Boe tried to hold back, but he was too weak under the onslaught of emotion brought on by Ianto’s scent and the feeling of his palm, which reminded him of the long ago sex pleasure.  Telepathy joined their minds and the secret place of himself was shown to another soul for the first time in hundreds of thousands of years.  He felt Ianto’s sorrow first, and then deep shame at things he had done.

Then a picture formed, clear and full, in Ianto’s mind, of him and Jack, making love in Jack’s bunk while Myfanwy slept nearby. Then another. Jack pulling up a sheet around Ianto and John as they slept wrapped around each other. John’s red jacket hung over a chair and the scent of coffee hung in the air.  Then another. John kissing Jack on the cheek while Ianto hovered on the walkway above. Cups and cups of coffee.  John and Jack and Ianto, naked, wrestling and laughing in a big bed where Jack had once kept his bunk.  John covering Ianto with Jack’s old coat while he slept, shirtless in skinny jeans, on a battered couch.  The three of them, drunk and laughing, watching _Star Wars_ and eating Chinese food from paper containers.  Jack holding Ianto as he slept. John and Jack, sitting under the moon talking. Then Jack, alone, on the roof watching the stars while Myfanwy circled above him.

“Name. Home place.” said the Face of Boe, “Home.” And Ianto wept because Jack had forgotten. 

“Torchwood,” said Ianto.  “It’s Torchwood.” 

“Torchwood. I Love.” The Face of Boe said.  “I Love. Ianto. Always.”

“I have always loved you,” said Ianto.  “I always will.”  And he said Jack’s real name for the very first time. With that, he collapsed under a weight of sorrow and knowledge and memory that poured into him.  For the Face of Boe remembered Ianto and John as the lovers of at least a thousand years, the time of his earliest youth, long before he passed beyond the limits of mere immortality and into something far more profound.  The Face of Boe wept with sorrow unimaginable to anyone except, now, Ianto.

John stepped out then and lifted Ianto tenderly in his arms.  “I love you, too,” he said quietly, “but never, ever do that to him again.”

“Love,” wept the Face of Boe.  “Lost. Alone.”

“Don’t worry,” said John.  “I’ll come back and make sure you’re cared for.”

“Good wife to me. Always.”

“Much better than you deserve sometimes, certainly.”

And the Face of Boe chuckled, knowing it might be the last time. “Grateful.” And this was true, not only because of the care, but because of the life John and Ianto gave him, for the Face of Boe had long since stopped hoping to be surprised or beloved or amused or aroused or ashamed or any of the feeling he associated with being fully and truly alive instead of marking time until death.


	8. Meanwhile -or- honey for the eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nut is amused by the Face of Boe. Drupadi remarks again that John and Jack and Ianto should all be lovers.

Nut found The Enduring One shortly before the first time she thought to pass beyond. For him, it was in the long, long gone, the time far before he recalled John Hart as the lover of his earliest youth.  He remembered her this way as well.

“Friend,” he said.

“Yes,” she said.

“Beautiful woman,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said.

“ _Pride and Prejudice,”_ he said, and Nut laughed.

“You do amuse me,” she said.  “Is there something you require?”

The Face of Boe wanted coffee, but there was little point in asking for it.  No coffee ever slaked that deep thirst.  He thought to ask for something else, but the words slipped out, just as he remembered her telling him back in the times long gone when he had had a body like a mortal man.

“Amuse me,” he said, and Nut laughed again.

“Let me tell you of Cary Grant,” she said.

When she had done, she found Drupadi, who had had five husbands.  “Tell me,” Nut asked.  “How did you manage all five of them?”

Drupadi shrugged.  “They were brothers and understood each other,” she said.  “It was much easier that way.”

“I see,” said Nut.

“Is this about the new ones?  That John and the Sweet One?”

“Ianto,” Nut said, rather than asked.

Drupadi blushed.  “His nakedness is like honey for the eyes.”

“Will you help him?” Nut asked.

“He is a grown man, young though he is,” said Drupadi.  “It seems wrong unless he asks for my help.”

"He will," said Nut.  "In his own way." Nut wandered among the worlds for a short time and decided not to pass beyond for some further days.


	9. I just have to bear it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack realizes that he may not be able to stay with Ianto and John. He explains why he no longer has a choice. John and Ianto each comfort him... but Ianto's way is best.
> 
> Jack POV.

John and Ianto came back just before dawn, looking puffy eyed as if they hadn’t slept.   Jack, who had found a set of his old pyjamas in the closet, had stayed awake to watch the stars and then the sun rise.

“I was just going to bed,” he said.  “Care to join me?”

“We’re staggering and need a bit of a kip,” said John.

“Me too,” said Jack. 

John looked at Ianto, who shrugged.  They crawled into Ianto’s king-sized bed, Ianto in the middle in only his pyjama trousers and John in pants and a t-shirt. Jack watched them curl naturally into each other while they slept, pain lancing his heart.  Part of him wanted to curl up against them, and part of him wanted to run away before he got hurt again. He had kept his heart whole in these intervening years by refusing to allow anyone to touch him deeply, allowing himself to forget who truly held his heart.  Seeing John and Ianto filled him with longing to stay and belong and love them forever.  He wasn’t sure how it would work, whether it would work, whether he could stand being second best or making John or Ianto feel second best.

Jack woke to find that he had nestled together with them like spoons in a drawer.  A blood red sunset stained the windows.  Ianto spoke first.  “How long are you planning to stay?” he asked. 

“I don’t know,” said Jack.  “They’re saving me for something. I have no choice.”

  
“There’s always a choice,” said John and Ianto together.

“You don’t understand,” said Jack, squeezing them, then pulling away.  “I already made the choice.  Long before I met you… well, Ianto at least. Now I have to bear it.”  His voice caught in his throat and his eyes filled with tears, but he swung himself out of the bed before Ianto or John could reach out to him, or not.

“I’ll make coffee,” he heard Ianto say.

“I love you Heart Candy,” John said.  “But let me see to him a bit first?” Ianto agreed.

Jack let John hold him while he wept.  “I didn’t understand,” he whispered. “I didn't realize what I was choosing.”

“I know, love,” John said, kissing the top of his head.  “I wish I could do more for you.”

“It was easier when I felt so flat,” Jack continued. “I could bear it. Now…there are such wonders.  They fill me with awe and love, but I can never.”  He choked and wept again.

“I’m sorry for that pain,” John said, cradling Jack’s head against his shoulder.  “We’ll be here for you as long as we can. Remember that.”

“All right,” Jack whispered.

“Promise me?  You have to promise.  It’s important.”

“I promise.”

Jack rested his head on John’s shoulder and allowed himself to remember how it had felt to be a whole, mortal man, as he had been when they were together. Shame washed over him when he realized how he had squandered that gift and the love he had known. He felt his insides contract once more with grief.

Then the smell of coffee tickled his nostrils.  Ianto pressed a mug into his hands and he felt deeply comforted.

“Impeccable timing as always,” said John as Ianto settled down beside them. Jack drained his cup and wordlessly, Ianto handed him another.

“How do you always know exactly what I need?”

“He works at it,” said John, beaming at Ianto as the two of them wrapped their arms around Jack.

“This isn’t very much like a queue,” Jack said, with some of his accustomed buoyancy of spirit. 

“Queues are overrated,” said Ianto.

“I like it much better,” Jack said.  “I need to go see Gwen.”

“She’ll like that,” John said. 


	10. The morning after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto and John discuss their relationships with Jack and each other after their final visits to the Face of Boe.
> 
> Ianto and John continue to talk around the something terrible that happened to John. 
> 
> Ianto POV.

“It’s up to you,” John said, when they discussed the details of inviting Jack into their lives.  “It’s one thing to keep a place for him in our home.  You know how I feel about the sex, well, the just-for-fun sex anyway, but you’re not the same about it as I am. And it wouldn’t be just that for either of us, anyway.  Not with him.”

“He won’t see me again, will he?” John, who knew Ianto almost as well as himself, followed the shift easily.  Ianto mean the Face of Boe.

John shook his head.  “Or me, either.  He’s just waiting for the Doctor now.”

“He lived for hundreds of thousands of years,” said Ianto.  “Maybe millions. Not even Nut could do that.”

“He let you touch his mind,” said John.  Ianto opened his mouth.  “Don’t argue.  I saw you.”

Ianto nodded.  “I saw a lot of things I didn’t understand.  I think you might, if I tell you.  It’s a lot to hold in.”

“Of course, delectable one.  But you should know,” said John.  “I’m the only one left who knows what happened his two lost years.  And he didn’t want to know. We promised never to tell anyone.”

“That bad?”  John shrugged.  “I don’t know what do to, John.  It feels wrong to deny him.”

“It also feels wrong to let him do something that will make him feel so terribly guilty in a million years,” John replied.

“That’s not why he feels such shame when he sees you,” Ianto said, fishing for answers.  “He’s different now than he was when you were together.” He paused.  “He sent you back and told you how to save me.” Ianto closed his eyes.  “He feels it now… how he squandered his chance with you, before he even met me. Did he…?”

“I promised, Ianto.  Please don’t ask because I will tell you and it may ruin your opinion of him and possibly me and I couldn’t bear it if you hated him because of something I did.  If you can’t forgive me, I understand, but please, please forgive him.”

Ianto’s eyes filled with tears.  “I love you.  You know that.  And there’s nothing to forgive.”

“I see the eyes of a man who needs to get something else off his chest,” said John.

“He remembered the three of us as lovers, John. He remembers us as the ones he went home to, who always kept a place for him, as long as he was still human.” 

John took a moment to formulate his thoughts. “So, it seems like we already made the choice, and he’s reminding us.  How do you feel about that?”

“I need you all to myself a bit longer,” said Ianto, not saying why, because they never mentioned the terrible trouble unless they needed to. “But it feels like the right thing to do.  To offer him that love if he needs it. Because we do love him that way, too, don’t we?”

“We do.  And he does smell wonderful,” said John and Ianto made an appreciative noise.  “I’m nervous, though, after…”  Ianto took John’s hand and then crawled into his lap because they were both shaking.  “He’s very fun, but not always the most sensitive lover.  And I’ve lost my taste for the rough stuff.” Neither one of them mentioned their early unspoken agreement to avoid most of the acts that Jack had especially enjoyed and to build their own repertoire of lovemaking.  

“It needn’t be until we’re all ready. I’ll talk to him and take care you feel safe.”

“Heart Candy, I can’t begin to tell you how much I love you.”


	11. A bit reasonable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Ianto comfort John after his nightmares. 
> 
> Jack goes to visit Gwen because he doesn't want to give up on Ianto... or John. Gwen gives Jack a much-needed bit of a talking-to, then asks him to dish on his last shag.
> 
> Jack POV.

Jack didn’t know why he had come back—really, truly come back, as opposed to answering an investigation—until he saw Ianto and John asleep together. Something was troubling them, troubling them deeply enough that the Time Agency needed his help to sort them out. There were very few agents left. Without them, both Torchwood and the Time Agency would collapse.  Jack was the only one who knew them (and the work of both the Time Agency and Torchwood) well enough to help.

He was also the only one who loved them enough.  They wouldn't trust anyone else to help them.

Jack had crawled into bed with them again, when he heard John whimpering in his sleep.  Ianto had stirred and gathered John close without awakening.  Jack slipped an arm around the two of them and John went quiet.

“I think I’m here to give them away,” he told Gwen, who had flown into his arms and hugged and kissed him—just as he expected—when he appeared on the doorstep.  “Ianto. John.  Give them up. I don’t want to,” he said mutinously.  “We have something special.  Especially Ianto. Once in a few lifetimes kind of thing.  And I, of all people, should know.”

Gwen put on the soothing voice. “Well, Jack, it’s ten years they’re together and you’ve not come back. And Ianto? He’s still so young,” Gwen said, clutching his hand.  “And are you sure this isn’t just jealousy and second thoughts? You two were never that serious, I thought. ‘Dabbling’ you called it. Just a bit of a shag to you, Ianto, told me more than once.”

“He was more than just a shag to me,” said Jack, hotly. “Much more.”

“But not very much more, Jack,” said Gwen.  “Be reasonable.” Jack raised his eyebrows.  “Yes.  Look who I’m talking to.  Try to be a bit reasonable.”

“I thought maybe we’d have some time before he moved on,” muttered Jack, sounding like Anwen, when asked to do her homework rather than watch telly.

Gwen squeezed Jack’s hand.  She’d been a mother for nearly ten years and now had practice with difficult conversations with the people you love and can’t yell at,  unlike Rhys.  “Jack, I’ve never had out at you over this, but Ianto is my friend, too. You took up with him and left without saying goodbye, haring off after that Doctor. From the time you came back, he was faithful to you and you shagged and kissed and fell in love with people, right in front of him, and he never complained, no matter how much you hurt his feelings.  You had a wife and child and grandson you never told him about, and when you finally started acting like he was your boyfriend—which you only did for work—you had out at him for being happy about it when people noticed.”

Jack tried to find an excuse.  How could he explain what it would be like for Gwen to outlive Rhys?  To lose his love because she stayed young and he was maturing?  And lose the next Rhys? And the next? And then to determine to settle for something that felt good but never ran too deep?  And how could he explain how frightening it was when that resolve slipped and then Angelo betrayed him?  “But Gwen…” 

Gwen continued. “No, Jack. That’s not the basis for a healthy relationship, which I know because you, Jack Harkness, forced me not to let go of Rhys and go traipsing after Owen and you and who knows what else.  I know you saved Ianto from probably killing himself, but that’s not enough for him any longer. You saved him and now he has something worthwhile.  Don’t ruin it for them out of jealousy and spite.” 

“I don’t understand what happened," said Jack. "Now they're so close. John and I weren't that close after five years together. They hated each other." 

Gwen rolled her eyes. “Of course they did, Jack, because they were fighting over you.  John used to be a complete and utter arseh*le, but he’s different now.”

“I know John wanted to do Ianto, but I thought it would peter out after they had sex once or twice. I never expected this.”

“It’s been more than that to John all along, as I think you know. Neither one of them would have done this if it had been a bit of a shag. He looked after Ianto for weeks, and they became close." Jack went pale. "John’s a terrific partner to Ianto.  Really loves him, and was that delighted when Rhys called him Ianto’s boyfriend.”  Her eyes filled with tears. “Really thrilled. He came round here with cake and flowers and hugged Rhys half senseless thanking him. Said he hadn’t the nerve to say anything himself, in deference to you, but Ianto had agreed and it was all down to Rhys.”

Jack sighed.  “He’s always been a good boyfriend, Gwen.  It’s the murder I find troubling.”

“He hasn’t killed anyone since Grey died,” Gwen said.  “Not even a fistfight round here since he brought Ianto home.  I’ve kept an eye on him.”

“As far as you know,” said Jack, who neglected to tell her that he had gotten a call from the Time Agency to look into John’s latest, and hopefully last, misadventure.

“I know,” said Gwen. “He’s changed in all the good ways. Get to know him again, Jack.  Get to know both of them.  They miss you.  I miss you.”

“You have no idea how much I have missed all of you.”

Gwen’s heart skipped a beat, Jack could see from the expression on her face. “You won’t be coming back again, will you?  It’s too much for you.”

“I’ll try my best, Gwen, but I can’t promise anything.”

Gwen’s nostrils flared and a certain steel entered her gaze.  Jack felt himself quail. “You promise to see me again before I die, Jack Harkness.  And you’ll be at my funeral.”

Meekly, Jack promised.

“Good.”  Gwen smiled.  “So tell me which exotic person you’ve been shagging.” 

Jack laughed.  He didn’t mention any names, but the lover he described was Nut.

 


	12. Meanwhile -or- Resistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nut is annoyed when Jack describes their lovemaking to Gwen. Jack redeems himself.

Nut sat by the scrying pool, watching Jack tell Gwen about his latest ‘shag,’ feeling equal parts flattered—she was the only lover he spoke of—and annoyed—because he was speaking of it.  She had done Jack a huge service and he seemed to find their encounter to be merely ordinary. This Gwen seemed to envy their union, however. Perhaps Nut did not understand Jack as well as she had thought.   

Nut waited, and when Jack left Gwen’s house, considered going to him to ask about his feelings, but instead she watched as Jack walked back to the hill where he had lain with her--and taught her the ways of checkers and jammy dodgers. Her lips quirked at the memory.  

Jack walked about the hill slowly, as if marking each of the places where he had made love to himself when he had been divided into two. He seemed to long for the feeling of understanding and connection he had felt for those few precious weeks.

When Jack reached the place where Nut had first loved him, he stopped and squatted, picking up the handle of the “life knife.”  It had been lying behind the forcefield for a decade.

“You helped me so very much, beautiful lover,” Jack whispered.  “You brought me a feeling of wholeness I hadn't experienced in millennia. But you were wrong.  There is always pain at the hands of a beautiful woman. Just to look at anyone that beautiful causes an ache.”

Nut felt tears start in her eyes.  She stood and with a single stride was at Jack’s side.

“You,” Jack breathed.  “You’re more beautiful than I remembered.”  

“As are you.”

"More lovely than the night sky," Jack said.

Nut laughed.  "I am the night sky."

“Then you heard what I said?  I’m sorry if I annoyed you,” said Jack. 

Nut stepped forward and planted her lips on Jack’s.

“I accept my place in your queue, Jack Harkness,” said Nut.  “Will you accept my affections in turn?”

Jack shivered with desire and awe.  “If you will accept mine as well,” he said.  “I’m not used to being resisted as much as I have been these last few days.  It stings.”

“I will not resist you,” said Nut. "I will love you." Jack cried out more than once in deep pleasure before he wept.  "Hush," Nut whispered. "You are deeply beloved. Tell me what troubles you." Jack told Nut about John and Ianto.  "But what troubles you?"

"I love them, but I don't want to be selfish," Nut raised an eyebrow.  "I don't want to let myself love them and then lose them. I don't want to get started and then run away."

"They love you deeply," Nut said.  "You will forge a path together."

"But I love you also," said Jack. "I don't want to give you up."

Nut smiled.  "You always cheat, Jack Harkness.  And I will not abandon you.  Let us love again."

Afterward, they sat together and watched the stars.  “Tell me about your travels,” Nut said, “since last I saw you.”  Jack spoke of the signs and wonders he had seen among the stars. 

“But you know these things better than I do,” he said.

“I like to see them through your eyes.  You see all with love.  That is a rare thing.”


	13. Always welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack reveals why he came back and Ianto reveals why he didn't fling himself into Jack's arms the instant he saw him.
> 
> Ianto POV.

“I need to ask you about John’s last assignment,” Jack said three days later, when John was running an errand. The night before, John had woken up screaming, and Jack ran into the room as if he’d been lit on fire, just as Ianto had taken John’s face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. “I’ve been sent to do an investigation. By the Time Agency.”

Ianto’s face went blacker than it had the time John Hart put him in an elevator at gunpoint and dared him to find Gwen before she died. “I see,” he said. “Why me? You haven’t talked to John, I know, because he would have told me that he’d seen you.”

Jack sighed. “Because I suspect that you, Ianto Jones, solved a huge problem for us, and I’m positive that John will never tell me the truth in order to protect you because you weren’t supposed to be there. I’d been very clear that I didn’t want you anywhere near that mess. And because I know if I ask you not to lie you won’t. And because they want John to be their Director, and I think it might be good for him for a while, if what I suspect actually happened.”

“You could have asked me any time this last week,” Ianto said. “You’d been hovering around for days. Myfanwy was half mad by the time you finally went in to say hello to her.”

Jack’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t realize how long it had been,” he said. “Ten years. I thought I’d be able to get back in a few weeks. I just couldn’t face you.”

Ianto punched at his wristband. “He’s coming, which is good because I can hardly bring myself to speak to you about this.”

“I’m so sorry, Ianto. I can explain,” Jack said, but Ianto looked up in shock, and grabbed Jack’s hand.

“Oh my. No. I’m sorry, Jack. I’m not upset with you. I understand. That’s not why….” Jack’s mouth fell open. “I’m…. we’re happy, in fact, _delighted_ to see you. You’re always, always welcome. More than welcome. It’s been such a huge comfort. We've been floundering.”

Jack was nonplussed. “Then why no rushing into my arms? No kissing?”

“I’m not sure I can trust myself around the pheromones,” Ianto confessed. “Or, I’m sure I can’t trust myself with you. Not when John had been away so long, and I couldn’t… We’d only just promised….” He made an appreciative noise. “It’s been horribly difficult, especially with you in the bed. You smell even better than I remembered.”

Jack smiled. “You only had to ask, Ianto. I’ll protect your honor,” he said. “I’ll protect you as best as I can.”

“It’s that last bit that I find worrying,” Ianto said. “I don’t associate you with self-control in that area.”

Jack chuckled. “Certainly not with you,” he admitted. 


	14. The Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something terrible happened when John encountered The Family. Ianto comes to his rescue and vows not to leave him alone.
> 
> John POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allusions to Miracle Day. In the earlier story in this AU, Ianto goes back and steals Jack's blood to prevent Miracle Day from happening.

Two years earlier, John had fallen into the hands of The Family during a routine Time Agency assignment.  They had searched, quite thoroughly, for someone else with Jack’s abilities, leaving a string of bodies in their wake. They secured John against a table with a spike through one shoulder and held him for what seemed like months, but was actually only a day, draining his blood, cutting him open and playing with his organs and laughing while he screamed in pain and terror.  He blacked out eventually and was roused by the muffled sounds of an alien taser.

“John?”  Ianto sounded half mad with panic.  “John?”  John’s eyes fluttered open to reveal Ianto, carrying a shopping bag.  He gagged when he realized what was in it.  “I’ll f*cking kill them.”

“No!”  John said.  “No. They’re not worth it.  Just get me out of here.”

“Try not to scream again when I pull this out,” said Ianto, “Or I’ll not be able to stop myself.” and John knew that he’d heard.

“I’m so sorry,” John started to cry.  It was the first time Ianto had ever seen him sob.

“Don’t. Not yet,” said Ianto, wrenching the spike out before John could react.  “I don’t want anyone else to see you like this.”  John took a deep breath. “Can you walk?”

But he didn’t have to, because the TARDIS materialized. Ianto helped John inside where a small hospital unit was set up with impressive alien technology.  “John, I’m going to knock you out.”  John nodded.  He never asked what Ianto did, but the bag was gone and he felt whole enough when he woke up, safely tucked into their own bed in Cardiff, aching all over. John tried to sit up, moaned, and Ianto gasped awake in the side chair. “Are you all right? Do you want anything?”

“Hold me?” was all John managed to say before he began to sob. Ianto crawled into the bed and gathered him close.

“Your shirt hurts,” John said when he calmed enough to breathe.  Ianto stripped off and John rested against his lover’s bare skin, feeling cherished and protected.  “Thank you.”

John cursed when Ianto began to weep, then started up again himself. “I trust you to take care of yourself, honestly,” Ianto said, when they both stopped crying, which took over an hour.  “But please retire.  My heart can’t bear this.”

“Done. I do need to finish one thing,” John said.  “I’m doing a favor for someone.  It’s not dangerous.  I don’t want you to worry.”

“I’d like us to take that museum job,” Ianto said, smoothing John’s hair, kissing his forehead, and pressing him close.  “It will be more to do. Keep our minds off things.”

“All right,” said John.  “I’m starting again…” his face crumpled once more. 

“Me, too,” said Ianto, grabbing a bottle of pills from the nighttable.  “Try these and see if you can sleep.”

“Only if you promise not to leave me alone,” John said.

“I promise not to leave you alone,” said Ianto.  John took the pills.

“I meant ever,” John said, nestling against Ianto’s shoulder.

Ianto kissed the top of his head. “So did I.”


	15. Missing Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's reaction to John's encounter with the Family. Jack has to go away.
> 
> Jack POV.

Jack had to excuse himself to throw up after Ianto explained what he had seen when he found John.  John walked in just as Jack returned and Jack tugged the front of his v-neck t-shirt, showing a fading scar starting under his collarbones.  John backed away and sat on the far side of Ianto, who tucked an arm around him and kissed the side of his head. 

“I’m going to kill them, all of them, for what they did to you,” said Jack calmly.  “No discussion. They’re too dangerous.” 

“Not worth it,” said John, his voice and hands both shaking. He explained that he’d gone back to undermine their criminal and financial activities. “They shouldn’t be able to do any of the things they had done." That Ianto prevented, Jack added mentally. 

“Stop. Please,” Ianto said.  Jack noted that his voice and hands both remained steady. “I understand, but I can’t bear the thought of anything like that happening to you again.”

“It’s long since done,” said John, gathering Ianto into his lap and kissing his forehead.  “And I didn’t go near them.  I promised you I wouldn’t.  It was all computers.”

“It should be interesting, then, to make sure,” said Jack, and clapped his hands.  “Three way?  To celebrate.” Ianto laughed and Jack looked confused, then hurt.  “You said you were delighted to see me. Delighted.”

“I’m sorry, Jack,” said Ianto.  “And so we are.”  John agreed.  “I thought you were just joking to cut the tension.”

“I’m still definitely attracted to you, but I’m not sure,” said John, still shakily. “I haven’t been up to very much adventure since…”  Ianto wrapped his arms around John and pressed their foreheads together, making a hushing noise.

Jack wasn’t used to being on the outside of the hugs, but he understood suddenly why he’d needed to come back to them.  “Can I give you away, then?” Ianto and John turned blank faces to him.  “The wedding?  You’re wearing matching rings.”  John and Ianto’s expressions resolved into starry-eyed smiles and Jack felt himself mirroring their expressions of love and happiness. 

“Can it be just the three of us?” John asked, eager to latch onto any new topic of conversation.  “I’ve an absolute horror of weddings.” 

“Then why did you propose?” Ianto asked.

“Because,” said Jack.  “It’s, finally, time for you to have the love you deserve. 

John smiled. “That’s all very true, Jack, but the real answer is that I can’t imagine my life without you in it every day, Ianto Jones. You’re the reason I get up every morning and you’re the person I want to come home to every night. You are my very heart.”

Jack wiped his eyes while Ianto snogged John senseless.  When they were done, he had to admit to himself that even though he could truthfully say he loved Ianto (and also John), he also knew that he would never be able to say what John had just said because the last person he had felt that way about was Angelo, and he had vowed never to allow himself to feel that way again.  Ianto had come dangerously close to breaking through that resolve, but Jack was stronger than even he realized. He had no choice but to be, because Ianto had been right… no matter who he loved, he would watch that person slowly die of old age and then just keep going on.

They stayed up all night, drinking and talking, but not shagging, even though they all wondered how it would be.  Jack felt that something further was amiss between his friends.

The next morning, Jack kissed Ianto goodbye while he slept.  John was already awake, watching the sun rise.

“Let me see?” Jack said.  John pulled off his shirt to reveal a rapidly-fading collection of scars, let Jack run careful fingers over the worst, rawest-looking wounds. “But you heal so quickly.” 

“They open up again when I dream,” John said. "It's better. I used to wake up soaked in blood at least once in a week."

“Can’t you do anything else about those?”  Jack’s voice was tender, gentle, in a way John had almost never heard.

John nodded and pulled the shirt back on.   “I know I can’t, but I think Ianto can.  He started, but I can’t let him finish.  It’s that raw. I can’t let him touch me.” Jack’s eyebrow went up.  “I even keep a shirt on when we…”  He took a deep breath.  “And we’ve only been so gentle. I’m too…”

Jack closed a hand over John’s shoulder. “I think I should go back and retcon them.  Make sure they don’t do this to anyone else. It’s the only way.”

“I’d appreciate that,” said John.  “I really would. I promised him, but it was not the right thing to do.”

Jack patted John’s shoulder, kissed his forehead.  “I’m so proud of you. I’m so grateful you have each other.  Can I…?”

“Come back to us when you can,” John said. “We love you.”

Jack had nearly made it to the door when a bleary-eyed Ianto, looking delectable in his purple pants and robe flapping open, stopped him, “Those are quite some pants,” Jack said. “They really cup you in all the right places.”

Ianto flushed.  “I already retconned them…”  Jack’s heart nearly burst with love and pride.  “Except Angelo.  It seemed safer if they weren’t hunting for people like you.  Do you still have to go? I, we, wanted to ask you something.”

Jack’s eyes filled with tears.  “I’m sorry, Ianto, but I do. I have a few things…. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  Ianto wrapped him in a hug, and Jack rubbed his bare back under the robe.

“Do that, Jack,” he said. “We’ve missed you. We’re fine as we are, but we do miss you.”

 


	16. Just for now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto and John are saddened when Jack leaves. 
> 
> John POV

John walked up to the window where Ianto was watching Jack walk away.  “Eye Candy,” he said to Ianto’s back, “It’s bad luck to watch someone you love walk out of sight.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Ianto said, turning.  John’s heart melted at the sight of his tear-stained face. “I lied to you.”

John took a cautious step forward.  “Did you go back after I asked you not to?”

“No,” Ianto wiped away the tears.  “Before you woke up. I left you in the TARDIS and went back before they came to. I should have told you, but I didn’t know how…”

John took Ianto’s hand. “No apologies, Heart Candy,” he said. “I would have gone completely mad if it hadn’t been for you.”

“Did you show Jack your scars?” John flushed and nodded miserably. “Would you let me…” Ianto started. “Just let me touch you?  I can control it now. I won’t erase anything you want to keep. Not like your wrist.”

John felt himself pale. “I’m… frightened. I don’t want you to think of me that way, ever again. I’m still so ashamed.”  Ianto knew that their nightmares weren’t helping.

“I know, but it may help,” Ianto said, kissing John’s cheek.

“Maybe it will,” John started, stopped. “They keep coming back.”  Ianto kissed his throat and slipped a hand under his shirt by his back.

“I know. Is this all right?”  Ianto said.

“Yes,” said John, resting his head on Ianto’s shoulder.  “I love your touch. You know that.”

“Come with me into the shower?” Ianto asked. John nodded.  “Will you let me undress you?” 

“I’d enjoy that. Are you upset that Jack left?” John asked.

“I’ll miss him, but I need you to myself right now.  You?”

“I don’t know why I could, with him…”

“He makes things a bit easier,” Ianto said. "Besides, they did such horrible things to him as well."  John lifted his head. “John, it’s not that I mind, exactly.  I simply don’t like it that you still seem so uneasy. I want you to feel your old confident self.”

John interrupted, “Ianto, I feel safer in your arms than I have ever felt anywhere in the universe….” He would have said more, but Ianto kissed him and then they were busy stripping off. In the shower, Ianto laid his hands on John’s chest and the scars faded. 

This time, the scars never came back.

 


	17. Meanwhile -or- Feminism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gods and goddesses discover feminist theory

Athena and Drupadi were in tears looking in the scrying pool, when Zeus scurried up with a copy of _Sex for Beginners._ Ganymede had found dozens of books of feminist theory in graphic novel format and the goddesses had all begun making flash cards of the new vocabulary. “The Victorians were so compellingly….  What on earth?”

“It’s so romantic,” said Athena 

“Hopeless love is enticing, I’ll admit, but I still don’t understand why they don’t all get married together,” said Drupadi. “Oh, my, that one is beautiful.  Like sweetmeats for the eyes.”

Zeus made a disdainful noise.  “Jack Harkness has a far greater destiny than any of us.  He can’t love where he likes.  Besides, I’m not sure he’s really the marrying kind.”

“That’s ridiculous,” said Drupadi.  “It’s the hidebound prejudice of a paternalistic and heteronormative Western construction of monogamous romantic love that was made up to propel poetry and reinforce political and economic hegemonies. Jack should just stop in when he can.  They can make a home place for each other and live their independent lives as well.”

Athena gave a thumbs up and hid the flash card that said “hegemonic ideology,” just as Nut appeared and Zeus was spluttering “Monogamous!  I **_always_** cheated.” 

Perhaps it was an effect of her age relative to the others, but they rarely saw Nut approach or leave.   “I’m glad our scroll group readings are coming in so handy,” said Nut. She held out her hand and Athena gave her the flash cards.  “They have time to figure themselves out, Drupadi.  Perhaps a bit less feminist theory for the next meeting?”

“Always cheated,” muttered Zeus. 

“Yes, Father,” said Athena in a soothing voice.  “You always cheated.” 

Nut blinked.  “I am not certain cheating is praiseworthy,” she said.  Ganymede snickered and was sent out for ambrosia.  “What a silly creature,” Nut said, fondly.

“He’s quite cute,” said Athena absently.  "I do hope they come together again."


	18. Fifty years on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen's funeral brings John, Jack, and Ianto back together again.
> 
> Jack POV

The next time Jack saw Ianto and John was at Gwen’s funeral.  Once again, he had intended to come back sooner, but other concerns got in the way.  They hid in the back, afraid to speak to anyone because Rhys had died two years earlier and no one else knew about them.

Afterward, they walked out to the hillside where Jack had left to wander the stars.  “I think it’s time you came with me,” Jack said.  “I have marvels and wonders to show you.” He did not tell them that he had wandered for a hundred years or more before returning, that he had continued to seek a way to die.

Ianto had told John about Jack’s memory of Torchwood.  “I think we should discuss our future in the place where we all met,” John said.

“I don’t think that bar is there any more,” said Jack.  “And if it is, they won’t let us in because you shot all their mirrors.”

“Torchwood, you vast imbecile,” said John.  “Torchwood.”

“Vast imbecile?” asked Jack. “Where did you learn to speak like that?”

“He’s been obsessed with Colin Farrell,” said Ianto.  “Obsessed.  I had to throw out that DVD of _In Bruges,_ he was that annoying _._ ”

John kissed Ianto on the side of the head.  “I’ve gotten a new one with bonus features.”

“Of course you have,” said Ianto fondly, kissing him back.

Jack cut across the good-natured bickering. “Is Torchwood still there? How long has it been?”

“It’s there,” said Ianto.  “Still.”

 

+*+*+

Torchwood.  Jack was nervous as he had never been since he became immortal. The last time he’d had sex there had been with a recently-resurrected Ianto, and marked what should have become a loving partnership, instead of which he had hared off.  Twice.   

They entered through a force field next to a reconstructed information booth.  Jack gasped when he saw the gleaming interiors and ran to see what had happened to his old office, exclaiming happily over every item he recognized.  Then he saw John’s red jacket hanging over a chair.  “Have you two been living here?”

“Ianto is still the director, so we’ve kept it up as a bit of a home base,” John said.  “We’d been getting stares in London, even moving about a bit. We let out the cottage and the old flat was converted years ago.  There’s another living quarters down where all those horrible damp labs used to be. Plenty of decent space now. 

Jack smiled.  “I like this,” he said.  “I like it a lot.” They’d put in a bigger bed, with deep purple sheets, and cleaned up the alien equipment neatly and the office was a thing of beauty.  John watched, amused while Jack bounded about, reliving old memories.

Ianto hovered uneasily in a way he hadn’t in more than half a century.  “You’re awfully quiet, Heart Candy,” John said, hugging him and pressing their foreheads together. Ianto had taken Gwen’s death very hard.

“Heart Candy?” Jack asked, coming back out of the office in his old coat. “I like it, Ianto.”  He opened his arms.  “Who’s first?”

John, still wrapped around Ianto, looked over his shoulder. “The queue forms here.”  And Jack chuckled and wrapped his arms around the two of them.

“I love you both,” Jack said.  Ianto rested his head on John’s shoulder and John kissed Jack on the lips and said. “It’s about time, Jack Harkness.  Welcome home.”

“Home?”  Jack asked, puzzled.

“Yes,” said Ianto.  “Home.  We’ve made a place for you.”  Jack still didn’t understand. 

“We love you,” said John. “And we want you… Ianto where’s that…”  Ianto pulled  a velvet box from his pocket. 

“We had a ring made…” Ianto said.  “If you want it.”  They opened the box to reveal a ring like their own, dark metal twinkling with tiny diamonds like stars.

“I do,” said Jack, slowly.  He tried to back away, but they held him in place, and he took in the room, the huge bed, the empty space in the closet, his things arranged as if he was about to return. “For me? But I’m not…”

“You always said we needed three for naked hide and seek,” said Ianto.   Jack laughed.  “But, seriously, we want you to consider this your home and us…”

“Your family,” John finished for him.  “We want you to be ours as well.”

Jack looked into the faces of these two men he loved.  He’d been with many other people in the intervening years, none of whom had made him forget, even for an instant, the longing he had to be here, at Torchwood, but he knew he could never equal their commitment to each other. “I, ah,”

“You always cheat,” said Ianto.  “We know. And you leave a mess behind and rarely say ‘I love you.’”

“Even though I do,” said Jack.

“And you’re insensitive at times and never make coffee,” said John.  “And you leave without saying goodbye. But we love you and we want you to consider this your home, your place to be, with us.  And we want to be…”

“Your mates,” said Ianto. 

“Partners,” said John. 

Jack took a deep breath, “I’ve never said this, to either of you, but I have long been a man outside my time.  It’s bearable, but only just, and I know it will never end. You somehow made me feel whole again.  I’ve felt more alive than I had since,” Jack felt their hands tighten on his arms.  “I love you.  Truly….but I have nothing…  I wanted to bring you to see… so many things, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Jack,” said Ianto, gently, “We know.  We’ve thought about it.”

“We still want you,” said John.

“But you’re so happy together,” Jack said. “You’re whole and I’m still so…damaged.  Thanks to you two, I’ve been more whole these last years than I’d been in over a century, but still…  I don’t want to interfere in what you’ve built together.”

Ianto started to cry. John kissed him. “You’re great fun, Jack,” he said.  “It’s always more fun with you around.”

“It is,” said Ianto through his tears.  “Please do.”

Jack blinked back tears.  “Did you say naked hide and seek?” Ianto nodded.

“Is that a yes?” John asked.  But Jack was kissing Ianto. 

“I think so,” said Ianto, who would have staggered if John didn’t have hold of him.  John didn’t say anything because he was kissing Jack.  They broke away and John rested his head against Ianto.

“Yes,” said Jack.  “I’d… love that.”

“Good,” said John.  “We’ve planned a special meal.”

Jack started. “How did you know what I would say?”

Ianto kissed his cheek.  “Story for another time, Jack.”

“Oi, you, where’s _my_ snog?”  John asked, squeezing Ianto’s waist, but he smiled as he said it and called Ianto “sweet light of my heart,” when they had finished.

“We won’t expect you to say things like that,” Ianto and John said, in unison, when they saw Jack’s bemused expression.

“Good,” said Jack, flexing his hand to admire his new ring. 

“At least for a few weeks,” said Ianto.  John chuckled and kissed his cheek.

“Naked wrestling match?” said Jack.  “Winner chooses the endearment.”

John and Ianto shook their heads.  “Oh, no, Jack,” Ianto said, “Dinner first, then a nice,”

“long, slow,” said John.

“…satisfying shag.”

“We’ve planned that out as well,” John said.  “Put in a great deal of effort.”

“It’s really very good,” said Ianto.  “You’ll enjoy it.”

“We’ll tell you all about it while we eat.”

“In vivid detail,” Ianto winked.

Jack flushed and his eyes went dark. “You two are **_so_** hot right now.”


	19. Meanwhile -or- The gods speak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Ianto are officially accepted by the gods. Nut hopes that she has done enough for Jack.

Drupadi slapped Athena on the arm in a manner very unlike her usual poised serenity.  “Ha!  They did it. I told you.”

“I do have to admit you were right,” said Athena.  “I would not have predicted this.” She didn’t seem to mind being wrong terribly much.

“Why is the pool darkening?”  Drupadi asked.  “They were just about to strip off, and the young one is gorgeous. It’s like sweetness to the eyes to gaze on his nakedness.”

“That would be Ianto,” said Freyja, kissing Athena’s cheek.  “He doesn’t like an audience, and we can all dim the pool when we like.”

Drupadi watched as Athena kissed Freyja hello and made room for her to sit down.  It wasn’t quite enough, so Freyja sat partially in Athena’s lap. “So they were approved?” 

Freyja giggled.  “Yes. After some extended negotiations.” Athena blushed.

“You two seem rather friendly,” said Drupadi.

“Perhaps,” said Athena.

“Would you like my copy of the Kama Sutra?” Drupadi asked.  “Or have you gotten beyond that?”

Freyja laughed.  “Nice try. We don’t all kiss and tell.”

It was Drupadi’s turn to laugh.  “You northerners are so prudish.  You should rethink that.  I have a lot of experience to offer. Certainly much more than either of you.”

The air shimmered.  “So you do,” said Athena.  “Let’s have a chat.”  They hurried off.

Nut appeared by the pool and waved a hand.  An image formed of Jack Harkness, lying awake, nestled between his two lovers as they slept. She watched him kiss Ianto’s dark hair and then John’s forehead, looking deeply content and yet sorrowful, as though he felt the ending of this love as well as the beginning. Something caught his eye.  He winked and the pool darkened once again. 

“Fare thee well, Enduring One,” said Nut.  “I hope I have done enough.”

 


	20. Lovers of more than a thousand years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack finally leaves behind his lovers of (much) more than a thousand years. 
> 
> Ianto and John wait as long as they can before passing beyond, just in case Jack comes back to them.

Ianto pretended to be asleep when Jack kissed him goodbye.  The fear and restlessness had been growing over the final centuries, as Jack's hair greyed and the creases deepened in the corners of his eyes. As Jack aged, ever so slowly, until he had become an old man, and then began to become something else entirely.  Ianto knew it was only a matter of time before Jack learned the truth of his own future, the horror of living for a million years as the Face of Boe.  Ianto also knew Jack would be able to see that truth in his face, so he kept his eyes closed because it was all he could do now.

John slipped from the bed. “You’re always welcome back,” he said.

“I’m not sure what I’m becoming,” said Jack.  “I feel my humanity slipping away, and I don't want him to see me like that, less human than I’ve been.  Less able to feel for him, for you.  I've lost interest in sex.”

“It won’t matter to him,” John said.  “He loves you. I love you.”

But Jack knew it was time to leave, even though he wanted, more than anything, to stay another day.  Tears streamed from his eyes.  He let John hold him while he sobbed, just for a few minutes.  “I have to go.”

“You still have choices,” John murmured in his ear.   “You can always, always count on me.  I will be a good wife to you to the best of my ability, whenever you need me.”  And Jack chuckled.

“I did always say you were the wife.”

“And I was a good wife,” John said.  “Promise you’ll remember that?  Whenever you need me?”

“You are. I promise. I love you,” Jack said.  “Tell Ianto I love him and I’m sorry…I wish I could…” 

And with that, Jack stepped away, just as Nut had taught him.  Jack never told them, never revealed to anyone until his nearly final moments, that he left because he was afraid that he would sacrifice them the way he’d sacrificed his only grandson.  That he very nearly had, the last time a difficult choice had to be made, and this time he vowed it would be different. Instead, he’d sacrificed an entire civilization because he could not imagine a universe without Ianto or John in it.  He could no longer indulge those feelings and he had to atone for his mistake.

John went back to the bed, expecting to find Ianto curled over, sobbing, but instead he felt his own face crumple.  “Come here,” Ianto said, then gathered JOhn into his lap.  “Did you tell him?”  John nodded.  “Then we’ve done all we can for him. He’s past us now and the next time he needs us, it will be in the past.”

“Is it time for us to pass beyond, do you think?” John asked.  Valhalla had become quite empty.

“Maybe soon,” said Ianto.  “I… I’d like to linger as long as we can in case he needs us.  Will you mind walking among mortals for a while?”

“Not at all,” said John.

"Torchwood One needs us, it seems," said Ianto.  "We can try to do some good."

“I am so unworthy of you, my love.” They both knew they would not see this Jack again, but it seemed to be the right thing to do.

Many years later, they visited Torchwood Three, and when they entered, a bright light flashed.  A special meal was laid out and the bed was made up with their favorite sheets, the ones Jack said smothered him. Jack’s face, already looking horribly altered, played on the video monitor. “I wish I could have stayed to meet you,” he said, “But I am needed elsewhere.”

Ianto lingered for some thousand years before he passed beyond and John followed, because he could not bear to be without the keeper of his heart.  Nut was there to greet them, and they quaked in terror at her awesome grandeur, for she had grown even more impressive in the place beyond, until she smiled on them. 

“You have done well,” she said.  “Very well indeed.”


	21. The Face of Boe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Face of Boe finally passes beyond.

Ianto and the good wife had gone beyond, but the Face of Boe had kept them safe in the most secret part of himself and called them back from the deep, deep past to visit him in the TARDIS. Other faces had lingered, but only those two had held the truth of his heart, and their last visits had filled The Face of Boe with the memories of his first self. 

Finally, he saw, once again, the Doctor.  The one whose actions had helped make him like this.  Poor foolish being with his bananas and cookies and fish fingers.

Then the Face of Boe closed his eyes. His time, his long-awaited time, had come at last, and he welcomed death as an old, old friend.  He passed beyond and when he did, Nut was there to meet him, her body dark and twinkling with stars. Above her circled a strange creature.

“Enduring One,” she said. 

"Beautiful woman," he said, startled at the feeling of breath in his throat.  He looked and found that once again he had a body and on his hand was a dark ring scattered with tiny diamonds.

“Are they here?” he asked.  Nut nodded.

"They have joined us."

“Myfanwy?”  a voice called. Ianto's voice. Jack’s eyes filled with tears, and Nut gripped his hand.  “Where are you? I have your favorite.”

“She’s quite a handful today, Eye Candy…”

“You did not just call me that….”

Ianto and John ran into view, laughing, jostling each other playfully. Myfanwy screeched as they fell to the ground, wrestling.

Jack took a step, then another, then burst out sobbing, and fell to his knees.  Ianto looked up first, nudged John.  They leapt up, each in a single, lithe motion, and ran forward.  The next thing Jack knew was the feeling of warm, strong arms around him, lips on his face and mouth and the stirrings of sexual desire.  He gasped, the way he had when coming back to life back in the days that he had first been unable to die.

“Come along home, love,” John said, shedding his shirt and wrapping it around Jack’s waist, while Ianto stroked the hair away from his face and kissed him again and again.

“We have missed you,” said Ianto.  Jack reached up, tentatively, as though he had forgotten how to touch, because he had.

“Ianto?” said Jack, then looked at John.  “Good wife? Is it really you?”

Ianto swept Jack up into his arms. “Don’t worry.  It’s confusing at first, but we’re here to help you.”

“John?” said Jack, taking John’s hand. “I don’t… Is it over? Can I stay?”

And Nut was there.  She kissed Jack’s lips. “Yes, Enduring One.  It’s over now.  You can begin again, whole and new, with these ones who love you. You may remember them now without pain.” 

Jack turned to John again, bewildered.  John stroked the hair back from his face.  “It is over, love.  Relax.  It’s all right now.”  So Jack rested his head on Ianto’s chest… and remembered….

 

******

And Jack remembered the day he realized he would have to leave his lovers behind nearly a thousand thousand years before….

It was long before he finally left, even before he realized what he would become.  He had returned to Torchwood from a long absence--a lengthy dalliance with Nut, just before she passed beyond.   He had felt saddened at her loss, wounded, and he return home for comfort only to find his office and bed empty. He wandered the corridors, marveling at the sleekness and improvements, missing the gritty imperfections, but recognizing that this place, this Torchwood had become his truest home.  In one of the basements, a door stood halfway ajar and Jack peeked in.

John and Ianto were wrapped around each other gazing deeply into each others’ eyes, naked and bathed in sweat, John in Ianto’s lap, facing him.  John said “Soul Candy.”  Ianto looked down, toward the deep purple sheets, and John touched his face.  “I love you.”

Jack had never felt so aroused.  Ianto turned his head to meet John’s eyes and caught sight of Jack.  He paused, and John turned his head as well.  For a moment, they all stared at each other, transfixed.

Jack recovered first and started to back away.  “Sorry…”    But they stood and went to him.

“It’s okay, Jack,” Ianto said, taking his hand.

“More than okay,” said John. 

Jack let them undress him, but when John looked deep into his eyes, he was engulfed in shame, shame at the narrowness of his feelings in return for that deep love, shame at the things he had done and the creature he felt himself becoming.  Nut's eyes had been clouded, mostly, the eyes of a being much more complex than himself, one with the knowing of all things.  John and Ianto still looked at Jack with the purity of new, mortal love, and deep affection that touched their very hearts' blood. Jack, who only just realized that he'd never allowed himself to really love them with the abandon of his earliest youth, sobbed helplessly. Wordlessly, they comforted him.

When Jack calmed, Ianto covered his eyes with a cool damp towel and kissed the back of his neck.  “Naked hide and seek it is, then.”

“Not just yet,” Jack said, pulling them down beside him.  “Let’s make love, the way we did that time.”  John froze, and Ianto touched his hand.

“I’m right here, Jack,” Ianto said, and kissed him, then John.  “We both are.”   

And they made love to each other just as Jack and Ianto had made love the day Tosh and Owen had died.  Afterward, while Jack drowsed he overheard John's anguished whisper.

"What's hurt him so much?" 

"It can't be just Nut's leaving," Ianto said.  John smothered a shocked noise. "I thought you'd known."

"I thought you hadn't."

"I knew.  But I think he's just realized that we only have a little time left together, that you and I will have to pass beyond and he'll have to keep going."

"But what can we do for him?"

"Keep loving him," Ianto said.  

 

*****

 

Nut smiled on them all.  “Do you remember now?”

Jack whispered.  “Yes. Better to have loved and lost.  Thank you for reminding me so many times.  For helping me remember them.”

“We will call you all for the next film festival,” said Nut. "I must return to my husband."

“Look at me, Jack?” Ianto said.  And Jack looked into those beautiful eyes and felt whole and new and beloved. 

“Welcome home,” John said, kissing his cheek.

"Welcome home," said Ianto.

And Jack smiled. "What's next?" he asked.

"Come home and we'll show you," said John and Ianto together.

 


End file.
